Essay: Style and Length
Your essay should be written in correct MLA format, and it should be between 1000-1200 words long.
For this essay, you will spend some time re?ecting on the good, the true, and the beautiful from a Christian perspective and explore how those are exempli?ed in one of the literary works assigned in the class. Then you will write an essay about how we can understand more about the good, the true, and the beautiful by reading and re?ecting on your chosen work of literature.
Steps in the Process:
Choose a work assigned in this course that appeals to you from an emotional or aesthetic perspective.
Read the work several times (maybe read parts of it aloud) making note of the features that seem particularly beautiful, inspiring, emotional, meaningful, or true. Think particularly about the following questions:
How does the work help us better value goodness?
How does the work help us better understand Truth?
How does the work help us better recognize and appreciate beauty?
Focus your thoughts into an argument about how the work of literature helps us better understand the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Compose a thesis-driven, organized essay presenting your argument and using textual support for your points.
Notes:
Although your essay will be thesis-driven, it is not a literary analysis. Do not simply pick a theme or a literary device and make an argument about that aspect of the work.
It will almost certainly be easier to do this assignment well if you choose a shorter piece of literature or a small section of a long work, rather than, for instance, the entirety of Hamlet.
Although the ideas in your essay will be based on your personal response to the poem, it should be written like a formal essay (thesis, organization, academic style) rather than a journal, and you will need to use speci?cs from the text of the poem to support your points.
You should not do any research on the literary work, since the assignment is on your own re?ections about it. You may, however, includes outside sources, including the Bible, that help you articulate the concepts of goodness, truth, and beauty.
1. Choose one assigned work of literature from the Ancient Period, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of Ancient Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
2. Choose one assigned work of literature from the Medieval Period, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of Medieval Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
3. Choose one assigned work of literature from the Renaissance Period, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of Renaissance Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
4. Compare the way two of the assigned works of literature we have studied so far portray the hero. What is the hero like, and why is the hero signi?cant to the meaning of the literature? Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
5. Choose one assigned work of literature from the Enlightenment, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of Enlightenment Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
6. Choose one assigned work of literature from the 19th Century, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of 19th Century Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
7. Choose one assigned work of literature from the Modern Period, and discuss how it is a good representation of the characteristics of Modern Literature. Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing
your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.
8. Compare the way two of the assigned works of literature from the entire course express what it means to be human in a true and powerful way. How does each work of literature portray human nature, and why is it a true and powerful picture of humanness? Your answer should be one substantive paragraph. Be sure your paragraph includes a clear topic sentence, summarizing your main point, and be sure to include speci?c details from the literature for support.